Transform from well mount to transom?

[deadriver]

I have a 18' Privateer that is a solid boat and so I prefer to keep it. My problem is that it has a well mounted motor, not a what is commonly called a motor well and is actually a splash well, forward of the transom. This is a true well mounted motor, 6' or so up into my boat. The guys here in the southeast use them to run small net operations or for pulling crab pots to keep the prop out of the lines or nets. It steers like a semi truck and just will not work for my needs the way it is.

Does anyone have any input what I have to do to move the motor back to the transom. Keep in mind that the keel of the hull stops short of extending to the transom by 6', as it stops at the functional transom which is at the well bracket. I may have to build the keel out to the transom and rebuild the transom.
Is simply putting a outboard bracket on the transom an option, or will the lack of keel all the way to the transom be an issue?

Thanks in advance. This is a new situation for me...

[tunnels]

Sorry but it will be easyer if you post some pictures of what you have and then the explaination will be a little clearer of what you have got !!
The keel is really doing little and if its stops well short of the motor all the better because any sort of keel causes turbulance in the water entering the prop and kills a little of you speed plus when you turn at anysort of speed the motor is not having to fight and push the keel side ways .If you motor is monted on the shallow side it could also cause cavitation when you really lock the wheel hard round when you are planing .
Pictures are worth a lot of words of what you are trying to discribe !!!

[Easy Rider]

deadriver,
Well dead, I suspect you have an Outboard with a traditional OB well that mounts the engine well fwd of the stern of the boat.
I don't care for these. People like to hide the outboard and make the boat look like an inboard. The boat weighs more, has less space and less flotation aft .. where it's needed to support a heavy (usually 4 stroke these days) OB. As an amateur I would suggest to you to remove the well, close the hole/well in the bottom and enjoy a better boat.

Easy Rider

[deadriver]

Thanks ya'll.
Tunnells- Will have to see if the pic posts this time or not..I tried the attachemnt link.

Easy Rider- You are spot on with what the set up is like. I would never consider another, but I wanted the hull either way and I had a 2002 motor on the old boat (ideal for a duck hunter on the Pamlico Sound).

It sounds like it would function as a tunnel hull . Sounds like a job I can handle. I may need to add some transom bracing, and still may use a motor bracket (or make one).

[tunnels]

yuk what a horrible thing!! I though that was what you had but aaaaaahhhhhhh!
Being a glass hull it would be possible to fill in the hole and cut the sides and the front off so they could be turned into strengthening panels and floor over the top so its not seen again , The transom the same clamp or scew or bolt a waxed and shiney board on the outside and glass the inside so it all comes out flat then take the board off and fair it all in . to get good bonding to the old hull grind all the gel coat off back to the bare glass a minimum of 150 mm every where you need to bond onto .Use a 24 grit disc in a grinder so is rough and strands of glass are showing , And use vinylester resin for the whole job , like everything . I would also use H80 pvc foam core for the bottom panels and the lower part of the transom and fabricate layers of plywood for the top section .
If you are able i would make or get made a fabricated motor mounted frame to Bolt on to the back of the boat where the oler part of the transom is now , not where the new part is glassed and push the motor out 300 mm to 500mm and get it away from the back of the hull ! The motor could be set level with the bottom of the hull or even slightly above , the keel i would not even think about unless it causes Cavitation when hard cornering at speed, but that would be just drop the motor a little and the problem should go away .

Dead, I don't think you'll want to leave it a tunnel as you'll need the buoyancy aft when you move the outboard. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I don't think it is bad...it's designed to keep the net away from the prop, after all. I hate brackets for fishing but if you are not going to fish, they work well. Good luck.

Originally Posted by mark775

Dead, I don't think you'll want to leave it a tunnel as you'll need the buoyancy aft when you move the outboard. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I don't think it is bad...it's designed to keep the net away from the prop, after all. I hate brackets for fishing but if you are not going to fish, they work well. Good luck.

Right Mark,

and let me add:

Dead, do´nt use anything but Epoxy resin for such layup! VE is nearly as expensive but does not stick as good to old poly as EP does.
Leave the foam out, not worth the money, the hassle, the risk of soaking water after a while.
Just close the well and build a proper transom.
Most probably you will need a bit stiffer a transom than you would have continueing the present layup. (I assume the boat was designed with a well).

Dont forget to apply a sheet of SS at the place where the engine mounts apply their pressure. Just glue it on, do´nt bolt through.

Regards
Richard

[tom28571]

Privateers are not great boats but OK. It is not a real well boat as described by another poster but I don't think there is another name for it. If you attempt to mount the motor directly on the transom, the transom will need to be modified with a splash well forward of the existing transom to allow the motor to tilt. This will need to be built strong to tie the transom sides together along with adding the new bottom over the cut out. I would suggest leaving much of the existing well in place for strength as well. You could combine this with a seat across the inside to further strengthen the transom.

If you want to mount the motor on a bracket, the well sides could be used as strength members to cantilever the bracket from. I have had a boat like this and agree that, other than for working off the stern, transom mounting performs better. Better steering and drier in chop.